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On the date that marked the end of the DURESS grant (1st Dec 2015), the team gathered in the Welsh Assembly Pierhead building, Cardiff Bay, to share the lessons learned so far on river biodiversity and ecosystem services. Sponsored by Alun Ffred Jones, AM, Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee of the Welsh Assembly, the event attracted a packed audience from Welsh Government, Dwr Cymru, Wildlife Trusts, NERC, British Ecological Society, RSPB, Brecon Beacons National Park and other stakeholders.

In his welcome, Alun Ffred Jones, AM described how he grew up in the hills featured in the film and in the DURESS project. He pressed researchers to make Assembly committees aware of their projects given the extent to which Assembly members rely on external evidence. They particularly need practical recommendations based on research evidence.

DURESS, he said, stood up to this challenge by outlining the key lessons learned.

Matthew Quinn from the Welsh Government, a key stakeholder in DURESS, outlined the policy context. He commended the project, particularly its stakeholder and public engagement. Echoing Alun Ffred Jones’, call for change, Matthew said DURESS is giving direction on habitat restoration, building an evidence base that moved beyond single natural resources to ecosystems, and helping to shape debate on payment for ecosystem services i.e. “paying for what nature does for us”.

Project Leader, Dr Isabelle Durance, outlined the background to DURESS, detailing why we focused on upland rivers and in particular on four freshwater ecosystem services: the regulation of water quality, carbon dynamics, the cultural value of river birds, and fish production.

People place large value on water quality. We need the right tools and measures to quantify biodiversity and its role in ecosystem services.

Round table discussions revolved on the question: “How relevant DURESS research is to stakeholders?” Along with the over 40 research articles currently in preparation, these discussions will help aim specific outputs for stakeholders.

We thank all who came and contributed to the day, and to the many others who followed through social media via @steveormerod and @Duress_HQ .

On 3rd November 2015 the DURESS exhibition visits Welsh Government buildings in Cathays.

If you have visited our exhibition, we’d love to hear what you think and so would our funders! Is it a good way of communicating a research project? Please do send your comments to duress@cardiff.ac.uk

Sponsored by Alun Ffred Jones, AM, Chair of the National Assembly for Wales Environment and Sustainability Committee.

At the National Museum, Cardiff Duress staff shamelessly used the Rugby World Cup to get the public thinking about river food webs.

Each October Cardiff University research teams take part in “Biology Rocks” to celebrate National Biology Week. This year DURESS had a stand with a “Nature plays as part of a team” game allowing people to sort their own river food web and discuss what happens when “key players are injured”. Also popular were our live stream invertebrates and a “Why do rivers need trees?” lucky dip. It is estimated 1385 people visited the event. We even had adults encouraging their children to take part because they wanted to know the answers themselves!

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The ‎DURESS Photo exhibition is currently on display in the Welsh Government building in Aberystwyth which also houses some Natural Resources Wales offices. The 15 photographs, themed around DURESS work, are being used as a more fun and interesting way of communicating our work, rather than simply circulating research journal articles. Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales are key partners in DURESS and we hope all WG and NRW staff enjoy the exhibit, not just those we already work with.

DURESS Scientists from Aberystwyth and Cardiff Universities were joined by show attendees at this years Royal Welsh Show. Children of all ages used our microscopes and keys to help identify invertebrates and find out about their functions. Some may have even been inspired to take up science courses in the future!

DURESS social scientists from Aberystwyth University were also asking people how they value the benefits we all gain from rivers. Their research will help us to understand the economic cost-benefits of upland river catchments and people’s preferences for ecosystem services.

DURESS team demonstrating the role of diversity in sustaining key ecosystem services at the ASLO Aquatic Sciences conference In Granada

DURESS PI Isabelle Durance and WP Leader Steve Ormerod organised a session on “Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Freshwater Ecosystems, a south north perspective” with talks from DURESS team members Hugh Feeley, Marian Pye and Dan Perkins.